Murder case update: Suspect confessed to shooting, dismembering wife

After a woman was found dead in a White Bear Lake garage, her husband confessed to shooting and dismembering her in their St. Paul home because she was leaving him.

Steven Roger Johnson, 34, was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder after the dismembered body of his wife, Manya Jewel Johnson, 32, was found in a garage in the 2200 block of Eighth Street Monday afternoon.

According to the Ramsey County criminal complaint: The Eighth Street resident called police Monday reporting his friend, Steven Johnson, had killed Manya Johnson and placed the body in his garage. White Bear Police officers found her body inside several plastic storage bins.

St. Paul police officers soon after arrested Steven Johnson without incident at his home on Sheldon Avenue in St. Paul, which he shared with Manya and their 18-month-old son.

Steven reportedly confessed he shot Manya in the head on Sunday after she told him she was leaving him and taking their son with her. He told St. Paul Police investigators he had been drinking and he used a saw to dismember her body in their shower. He said he put her body into bins and brought them to a friend’s garage without the friend’s knowledge and told the friend later.